Hero
by Anastasia Nikoleta
Summary: Fern Rosewood asks her neighbor, Mrs.Soliel, about a very strange thing in her history book


**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Artemis Fowl, sadly. _**

Fern Rosewood, an elf of only 35, (8 in human years), stomped down the hallway of her apartment complex, fingers gripping her history book, her face scrunched in frustration. An errant strand of mahogany hair fell into her line of sight, causing her to trip. Righting herself, Fern cursed, something she picked up from her father. She sighed; today hadn't been her day.

But, despite that, she couldn't help smiling at the familiar door before her. Knowing what and who lay behind that door could brighten anyone's day. She turned the knob and entered the place that had become her second home.

She grinned at the faintyellow walls, the only pale thing in the entire apartment. Everything else was vibrant, from the overstuffed chairs to the lamp shades. All around were photographs of the owner of the home and her family and friends, alongside momentums and medals. This room itself embodied the patron.

"Fern, is that you?"

Fern smirked. Speak of the devil. "Yes, Mrs. Soleil."

"Well, how was your first day back to school?" Mrs. Soleil entered the room and any anxiety Fern may have had was forgotten.

Mrs. Soleil was a unique character. It was only her chin length silver hair that betrayed her real age, and even then one would assume Mrs. Soleil was centuries younger than she really was. She was thin and wiry, a form achieved after numerous years in the recon, clothed in cargo pants and a blue tank top; it wasdefinitely not something one would typically see on a grandmother. Her face still held a youthful joy, while her mismatched eyes shone with defiance and mischief.

"Horrible," Fern sighed, "I knocked the coffee cup off the teacher's desk and spilled it on him when I went up to get my new books. The kids kept making fun of me because of it, and I'm pretty sure the teacher hates me now."

A surprised look formed on Mrs. Soleil's face. "Why would you think that, dear?"

"Because there's something in my history book that doesn't make sense, and when I pointed it out to the teacher, he said that it was a silly observation, and that that's the way the book is, and I shouldn't question the book or his teaching," she finished, gasping for breath.

Mrs. Soleil pursed her lips. "Well, I may have to have a word with your teacher."

Fern seemed oblivious to the comment, "Anyway I was thinking, you probably know the answer. I mean, you've been alive a really long time, right? So I brought the book with me to show you."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Fern. Now can you explain the problem?"

"Of course!" Fern's face lit up, "I was flipping through the book, reading paragraphs here and there. I had stopped to read a certain one, when I noticed the person I was reading about was listed as both a hero and a villain."

"And who was this particular person?" Mrs. Soleil asked, smiling slightly.

"Someone named Artemis Fowl."

Mrs. Soleil's smile disappeared, and her face paled. She appeared to be uncomfortable. Her hand flitting from the strange ring on her finger to the donut like necklace round her neck. Her eyes were sad, her shoulders sagging forward.

"I noticed something else too," Fern continued in a small voice. "There was another name that was mentioned in every story, good or bad."

"Who?" Mrs. Soleil whispered, though she already knew the answer.

"Holly Short."

Mrs. Soleil let out a short, sharp laugh.

"She had a whole page to herself."

"And what did it say?"

"Well, it talked about her childhood, the fact that she was the first female officer in the recon, and then it said she got kidnapped by Artemis Fowl, something about goblins, some cube, time travel, a monkey, and lots more. And guess what: She did all that stuff with him." Fern wrinkled her nose, "I mean, that sounds pretty stupid, doing all that stuff with the guy who kidnapped her. He was human and everything."

Again Mrs. Soleil laughed, "You'd think they'd have to ask permission for something like that, though, come to think of it, Foaly probably okayed it, might've written it himself. Remind me to speak about this with that centaur the next time I see him."

Fern's brow creased, confusing lacing her voice, "What do you mean ask for permission?"

"Are there any pictures in the book?"

"Yes."

"May I see them?"

"O-of course."

Fern flipped through the book until she came upon the article. Artemis Fowl was on the left and Holly Short on the right. The photos were scattered among the two pages, depicting scenes of action, injury, group photos, and a few of the two delinquents together.

She handed the book to Mrs. Soleil, who _tsk_ed upon observing the pictures. "I'm sure Foaly had these on his computer somewhere, though, of course, he doesn't have all of them," she chuckled, "Do you see this picture?" Fern nodded, "Well, have a look at this." Mrs. Soleil opened the draw in the coffee table next to her, and produced an old fashion photograph. She thrust it under Fern's nose, and Fern gasped. It was the same picture.

In the photo, stood two people, one male, one female; one human, one fairy. They had their arms around each other, and were beaming up at the camera. The human was extremely pale with black hair. On the hand wrapped around the fairy's waist, there was a strange ring, much like the one Mrs. Soleil had, and, though he had a suit and tie on, you could clearly make out a necklace identical to Mrs. Soleil's. The fairy looked like the general population, with nut brown skin and pointed ears. She had an auburn crew cut, and wore the classic L.E.P uniform. The one similarity between them was their eyes, each proudly sporting a pair of mismatched eyes, one hazel, the other a deep blue.

Fern lifted her large eyes to meet Mrs. Soleil's own mismatched ones, and whispered, "You're her, aren't you? You're the girl in the picture."

The corners of Mrs. Soleil's mouth turned up, and she nodded her head. "Captain Holly Short at your service. Of course now it's Wing Commander Holly Soleil."

Fern gaped, "Sorry I called you stupid," she murmured.

Mrs. Soleil snorted, "Believe me dear, you're not the first one to think what I did was idiotic."

"But, why would you do things with a sociopath who kidnapped you?"

Again Mrs. Soleil _tsk_ed, "Artemis was a lot of things, but a sociopath wasn't one of them. Opal Koboi was the sociopath in this story."

Fern frowned, "But, you still haven't answered my question: Why was Artemis Fowl considered both a hero and a villain?"

"Ah, yes. Well, Fern dear, in my opinion Artemis was always a hero. He may have made one mistake, but that mistake saved the People a thousand times over. Not everyone shares my opinion though. To put it plainly, Artemis is a villain because he kidnapped a fairy, and received fairy gold as ransom. He was also a constant threat to the People, reversed a mindwipe, and always was three steps ahead of us. Let's just say that people weren't always fond of him."

"Why is he considered a hero, then?"

Mrs. Soleil pursed her lips, "Why? Because he was a hero, that's why. If it wasn't for him the universe would be a pile of ashes by now, and the fairy world would've been exposed long ago."

Fern was utterly perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"If it wasn't for Artemis, Opal Koboi would have lit the world on fire just to watch it burn. Because of Artemis, we defeated Opal three times. Because of Artemis, Minerva Paradizo didn't reveal our entire species to the Mud Men. Gods almighty, Artemis risked everything saving the demons, and lost three years of his life because of it. Artemis Fowl was a hero through and through, but the Council hates that they had to rely on a human for so long, so they go on ahead and disgrace his memory. He was an unbelievably selfless person in the end. Artemis was a friend to the People. He was the best friend I've ever had the pleasure of knowing."

Mrs. Soleil stood abruptly, exiting the room. Fern could hear the sound of rustling, banging, and cursing. Finally Mrs. Soleil returned, albeit a little more battered, carrying a book of some kind. "This is an old photo album," she explained, "Even Mud Men don't use them anymore, but I prefer having these pictures where I can see and touch them, making it easier for me to believe that Artemis and all my other friends actually existed."

She pointed to a particular picture, "This one has always been my favourite, though it was before Artemis and I had become friends." The photo showed a strange bunch of creatures. There were two Mud Men: Artemis Fowl and some giant, two elves, Holly Short, a red faced man smoking a cigar, Foaly, and a dwarf. Mrs. Soleil's chuckled, "This was taken after we had defeated Opal the first time. Mulch threw his arm around Commander Root right before the picture was taken. If only you could see what happened after! I'm surprised Mulch made it out of there alive. I, of course, had to threaten Artemis in to smiling; even Butler couldn't help laughing at that one."

Fern laughed, and Mrs. Soleil continued to flip through the album, explaining each photo.

Finally, when they had reached the end, Fern turned to Mrs. Soleil, "Why do you have the same necklace as Artemis?"

"This is Artemis's necklace, she explained, smiling sadly."He gave it to me before he died."

"What's so special about it?"

Mrs. Soleil slipped the necklace off, and handed it to Fern. "Read the engravings."

Fern looked closely at the necklace, and saw that it was in fact a coin, "_Strange," _she thought. Squinting, she could make out what the engravings said, "_Deep down you have a spark of decency, perhaps you could blow on that spark occasionally." _Fern looked up at Mrs. Soleil, a questioning look in her eyes. "Flip it over," said Mrs. Soleil. On the opposite side, it read "_Holly, you are the breeze that enables that spark to grow. Always remember that."_

Fern opened her mouth to ask Mrs. Soleil what the coin meant when the clock tolled. "I suppose you should head home Fern; your mother is probably worrying about you."

Fern sighed, "I guess you're right," she stood, and held the necklace out to Mrs. Soleil.

Mrs. Soleil shook her head, saying, "You keep it to remind you that people aren't always who you thought they were, first impressions don't always do justice, and, most importantly, forgive people for the mistakes they make because, sometimes, they learn from them."

Fern smiled and nodded. She stood, gave Mrs. Soleil a quick hug, grabbed her history book, and dashed down the hall.

As she rounded the last corner, Fern couldn't help but remember everything Mrs. Soleil had told her. Swinging open her door, she grinned maniacally. Wait until she told her teacher tomorrow...

**This is just a little story about what Holly thinks of Artemis, and how the People portray him.**

**Also has anyone else noticed that both Artemis's and Minerva's names are goddess, Minerva's being Roman for the Greek goddess Athena, goddess of wisdom.**

**I wonder like to thank Karma's Inferno for betaing me. She was amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.**

**Please review with any questions, comments, or concerns. Thanks.**


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